Oxford Debates | Oxford Literary Festival

Philip Goff and David Papineau Chaired by Stephen Law

The Oxford Debates: Is Consciousness Everywhere?
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Mon 1 Monday, 1 April 2019 See this event
Peter Hitchens and David Edgar Chaired by Stephen Law

The Oxford Debates: The Loss of Britain SOLD OUT
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Tue 2 Tuesday, 2 April 2019 See this event
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Ariane Sherine

The Oxford Debates: Is it Time to Reinvent Me Too?
Weston Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Tue 2 Tuesday, 2 April 2019 See this event
Katherine Ormerod and Julian Baggini Chaired by Stephen Law

The Oxford Debates: Is Social Media Ruining our Lives?
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Wed 3 Wednesday, 3 April 2019 See this event
Andrew Copson and Andrew Grey Chaired by Stephen Law

The Oxford Debates. Assisted Dying and Euthanasia: Is it Morally acceptable?
Bodleian: Divinity School 2:00pm Thu 4 Thursday, 4 April 2019 See this event
Tamasin Cave and Isabel Hardman Chaired by Stephen Law

The Oxford Debates. The Lobby and Crony Capitalism CANCELLED
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sat 6 Saturday, 6 April 2019 See this event

Festival information:

The Oxford festival is the most elegant and atmospheric of literary festivals. It’s a pleasure to both attend and perform there.

Often as an author, I only occasionally get to meet the public who buy and read my books. The Oxford Literary Festival was a special opportunity for me and certainly one of the highlights of my career – it was an honour I will never forget.

The Oxford Literary Festival is intellectual Viagra.

The Oxford Literary Festival has in my mind become the leading literary festival of the year. The organisation, the roster of speakers, the ambience and the sheer quality of it all is superb. May it now go from strength to strength each year stretching its ambition more and more. I believe it will.

The night in Oxford was the most beautiful event I have ever done. Not just the spectacular setting (of the Sheldonian), but an unforgettable evening.

I loved the whole atmosphere of the Oxford Literary Festival. From breakfast, alongside some of the attendees, who were talking books with each other a mile a minute, to the public event at The Sheldonian where everyone was lively and engaged – I felt I had arrived in a kind of literary heaven.

A stimulating and rewarding on-stage conversation; a lively informed and tolerant audience; privileged access to the great treasures of the Bodleian, and finally, wonderfully interesting dinner companions to help me conclude the best day I have enjoyed at any festival – anywhere.

It was a privilege for me to visit the festival to receive the Bodley Medal. As an incidental blessing I saw Oxford at its most mysterious and atmospheric. It was a day of piercing cold and as I walked through the twilight from the Sheldonian to Christ Church, the streets were empty and the whole city was shutting itself away. Christ Church was silent except for the footfall of unseen persons around corners and the sounds of evensong creeping from behind closed doors. For the first time I understood thoroughly the power of college ghost stories.

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